Falling Upwards
by iHugBears
Summary: Hinata is sent on a crazy training trip for two years with Naruto and Jaraiya. Naruto and Hinata learn some things about each other that were never expected. Some stuff happens, like the return of Haku and... Sasuke? On HIATUS until further notice.
1. Thrown away like Garbage

**A.N.:This is my first story. Any reviews are welcome that are ACTUAL REVIEWS, not any of the "I don't like that pairing" crap or whatever else about my story that has nothing to do with the quality of my writing. Now that I'm done with my rant, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or anything else I might put in this story that is owned by some big company somewhere in the world (probably Japan or U.S.) that I wish I was the CEO of…**

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Chapter 1: Thrown away like Garbage

**Hinata's Pov**

"You're going to train with Naruto and his Sensei while they are on their travels."

This was the voice of my father, Hiashi Hyuuga, Head of the Hyuuga Clan, as he just basically screwed my life up. I know what you're thinking. "What's wrong with going to train with your crush?" Right? Yes, he's cute, with his blond hair and his muscles and his big blue eyes… But that's not the point. The point is that my father has just thrown me to the sharks.

He pretty much just disowned me without making it official, yet. But that's him, discreet, yet sinister, because he will end up stabbing you right under your nose and you won't notice until you're already losing consciousness, and then you're like "Oh, crap…" but it's already too late. I've just been stabbed. But I can't look angry about it, because so far I'm still the heir to the clan, and I have to show my Hyuuga manners while staring in the face of a demon. The demon who abused me since the time I was little. The demon who forced my mother away… But that's another story, for another time.

"Of course, Otou-san. I will train with them"

"I want to see you stronger than I've ever seen you. You have 2 years to train with them, and then you will return to be tested. If you pass, you will be able to continue your role as heir to the clan and to lead it someday. However, if you fail, not only will you be disowned as my heir and my daughter, you will also become a member of the branch family, and I will place the caged bird seal on you myself."

See what I mean? DEMON! He deserves to… Never mind. I don't want to think TOO badly of him. What starts in my brain might eventually come out of my mouth, if I ever get brave enough to do so. Brave like Naruto. This trip is going to be fine, I'm sure, but the mixed feelings I have are killing me. I don't want to be sent off on some random trip, at all, but going with Naruto-kun makes it a little more bearable.

"But w-what about Hokage-s-sama, w-w-won't she be angry?"

There I go again with that stupid stutter. It doesn't happen very often, but people I get very nervous around tend to bring it out, namely Naruto-kun and my father (sometimes Neji-nii-san, if he's mad at me). But while Naruto-kun seems to think it endearing, my father doesn't, and normally gets angry.

"Yes, yes, now will you stop that accursed stuttering!? You sound like a blabbering buffoon. You sound like you're possessed. You sound like…"

This is where I tune out, because I really don't care about what he has to say most of the time anymore. I wait for him to finish talking and for him to dismiss me, and then I head out to the orchard in our estate.

It's the prettiest place in Konoha, in my opinion, and definitely the best smelling. You wouldn't believe the smell that people acquire throughout the day. It's disgusting when there's no running water in their houses. I don't know how I could live without it in civilization. In the woods, yes, but those are special circumstances. I love the Hyuuga Estate, if maybe not the people that live in it, necessarily. The orchard is filled with all kinds of fruit, from apples to cherries and oranges and lemons.

Here was where I had all my dreams come true, and my worst nightmare. I love it and I hate it. Yes, it's my favorite spot, but it's also the most dreaded place in the whole estate. I guess if I wanted to sort out mixed feeling about the trip, I guess I should start with the mixed feelings about this place. I was just about to get ready to meditate when I suddenly heard a voice.

"Come on, Hinata! We gotta go!"

I hear the voice of Naruto-kun, coming from the front of the estate. I can't believe it! Are we leaving already? I should've paid more attention to father's words. Then I would've known… But then I realized. Father. He wanted me to be caught off guard so he waited to tell me about the arrangement until the day of. He knew I would be pissed, and he was right. But I knew that he was testing for my ability to cope, and I answered with a mere "C-c-coming!" Damn that stuttering, again! Why does that keep happening? I know I started it to give people the impression I was weak, but then it became a habit, and a very difficult one to break.

Anyway, I headed over to my room and quickly packed everything that I thought would be necessary for the trip, along with some other things that weren't. I packed many sets of my usual attire, along with some dressy clothes and makeup, and some things that I didn't want anyone from my family to see, such as my complex diagrams of many parts of the human body, including the heart, and few of the kimonos that I went and bought without anybody's permission. I knew they were going to search my room, so I took extra care of hiding anything that was important but couldn't come along with me.

When I went outside there was Naruto-Kun and Jiraiya (soon to be Jiraiya-sensei) waiting for me. As soon as I was in sight, Naruto-kun asked, "Why did you take so long? Were you packing just now?" "That's impossible, because we've known for weeks that she was going to come," said Jaraiya-sensei. I knew it. Everyone had weeks to prepare for something that I only had a few minutes to prepare for. But that's father. He always keeps me on my toes. Or rather, I'm trying to stay on my toes while he's trying to hang me .I usually succeed, but just barely. This time I'm pretty much hung.

"L-let's go."

We began to head out of the village. I'm positive they didn't ask me if I wanted to say goodbye or not because they assumed that I had already done those things, or that I didn't need to. It didn't matter. I wasn't going to ask them anyway. I would just stutter again, being by Naruto-kun, who makes me stutter more than anyone else. At the gate to the village, two chunin waved their goodbyes, and that was it. We were gone. Now that we were out of the village, I realized what had actually happened. I'm on a crazy adventure with my crush and his perverted sensei. I'm going to have to be careful where I put my clothes, especially since this man doesn't seem to know when to quit.

The first thing that was said after our departure for 2 years was Naruto-kun saying, "Can I go to the bathroom?" It figures. Naruto-kun is really cute, and determined, but hey, everyone has flaws, especially me. That's what I'm even here for. To work on my flaws, that is. I need to show more strength now than ever, and maybe even learn something in the process.

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**Naruto's Pov**

I normally think of Hinata as just this shy girl who blushes a lot (though I've heard it's just in front of me but I don't think so) and stutters when she talks, but if we're going to be training together then I hope that we will get to know each other better. All I know so far is that Hinata seems to be thinking about something pretty hard. Scratch that, she's thinking _really hard _because she doesn't even notice that Ero-sennin is staring at her. In fact, she hasn't noticed the whole trip so far. I'm pretty sure that she was thinking about it, though, because her face kinda scrunched up the way people's do when they're thinking of something nasty. I feel bad for her, and I wanna have some fun, so I tell Ero-sennin off.

"Oi, Ero-sennin! I think you should show some respect to the _lady _we have with us."

This time she noticed. I saw her turn to look at me, then at the pervert, and she, well, _blushed _would be too mild a word for it. It was more like her face suddenly exploded. She had really wide eyes, and then she looked at me again and blushed even harder, if that's possible. She didn't say anything, but I'm sure that she's eternally grateful for my good deed.

She doesn't say all that much, now that I think about it. She barely ever says anything. Even when we were in the Academy, she barely talked, although when she did, whatever she said was always right. Even when they did pop quizzes, half the class would get an answer wrong, and then they would turn to Hinata, and poof! She knew the right answer, every time. I guess she's smarter than she looks, with her shyness and all. She's such a mystery, but then again, all girls are, so it's not that surprising, but it looks like she's hiding something. It doesn't really matter anyway. I'm gonna figure it out sooner or later.

Jiraiya's looking at her again, but this time, he's not looking at her all pervy-like. He's looking at her with more of a question in his face, but I wonder why. Yeah, girls are hard to figure out but Hinata should be easy for someone like Ero-sennin, doing his "research" all the time

We stopped to eat after traveling for about 3 hours, and Hinata volunteered to go fishing, letting me talk to the pervert by myself.

"Hinata's a real nice girl, real sweet and stuff. You wouldn't do "research" on her, would you?" I whispered into his ear.

"Of course not, Naruto."

"Then why were you looking at her again?"

"I'm just wondering what caused such a change in her. She used to be so different, or so I heard several years ago."

"What! Hinata was different? But that's impossible! We started in the academy when we were both 8 years old, and she's always been the same!"

"I don't think so. Maybe you just don't remember. I mean, you were pretty young. You don't remember that much now, how could you remember something clearly if it happened 5 years ago?"

I stopped to think about that. Maybe he's right. I mean, it was a long time ago. Maybe I'm not remembering it right.

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**Jaraiya's Pov**

Good thing I got Naruto off my case. Whew! I know that I got rather _distracted_ earlier, but now to get back to business. Tsunade (oh, Tsunade…) told me something very interesting about the girl who I'm now supposed to train. Even though she's from the Hyuuga clan (pretty obvious, don't you think?) she's supposedly the most shy and introverted person who is a genin right now. That sounds pretty much like crap to me, seeing as I was at her "coming out as the heir of the clan" party, and she was pretty confident there. Maybe something happened to her or something like that? I don't know, but I plan to find out.

Flashback:  
_"Jiraiya, I know you've been requested to train the Hyuuga girl, Hinata."_

"_Yes, I have, but is there something wrong?"_

"_Most certainly. That girl's different, Jiraiya. She seems to be stumbling around everything and anything like she isn't capable of handling anything."_

"_I was under the impression that that was the reason I was requested to train her, Hokage-sama."_

_"It is, but I want you to keep an eye on her. You were there, right? At the Hyuuga's "Reveal the heir" party?"_

_"Yes, I was. Does the heir have something to do with Hinata?"_

_"The heir __**is**__ Hinata."_

_"What?!"_

_"Exactly! She's completely different. She used to be a very confident member of the Hyuuga clan, and now she's this bumbling idiot. I need you to see what caused this dramatic change. And for heaven's sake, Jiraiya, don't let this be an excuse for "research" or I will smash your head into the ground!"_

_(Gulp) "Of course not, Hokage-sama, of course not._

End Flashback

I don't want my head smashed into the ground, but I would allow it to happen if Tsunade confessed her undying love for me. Either way, this mission is actually classified as an A mission, because no one knows what happened to her and finding out could be dangerous. That, and also the fact that I'm the one who's doing the mission, and all of my missions are classified as A or S, no matter how hard the missions really are (I have to keep the reputation of being an amazing Ninja, you know).

I'm actually really curious as to see what is up with her. It didn't even cross my mind that Hinata was the heir. I remember the demeanor of that three-year-old, and I would not think that that girl is now in front of me, stuttering and pretty much just being shy. I'm definitely gonna have to see for this one.

End Chapter 1

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**Okay Guys, The first Chapter is done! I don't know how fast I'll be updating, so check every once in a while (Definitely not every day, every few weeks or so is good.) My chapters are going to be long, because of all the different opinions of the different characters. Jaraiya will pretty much always have the shortest section (because the story isn't really about him, anyway), but I think his section gives the most insight and foreshadowing knowledge (Hint, hint). Well, see you next time! (Review!!)**

**-The Bear Hugger  
(Teddy bears, not real bears, you sadists!)**


	2. The Day My Life Went to Hell

**Second Chapter Guys! I tried to get this early, but the only reason that can possibly happen is because it's summer and as soon as school comes, updates will probably happen much later (If I haven't finished the story, yet) I'm a be a Sophomore! Woo! **

**Disclaimer: Since when did I own something? I don't own anything, not even my pet lizard, which I gave away to my little Bro. :(**

Chapter Two: The Day my Life went to Hell

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**Hinata's Pov:**

When I got back from fishing, I looked, I mean _really_ looked, at the people I would be spending the next two years with. Naruto-kun, definitely cute and strong, but also an idiot (hopefully these two years will fix that) and then there's Jiraiya. Let's be honest, here. He scares the crap out of me. It's not that he's a sannin or whatever, but it's the way he's been staring at me this whole time that's making me wish I had thrown in the towel when I had the chance.

In the beginning, it was just the perverted way that he normally did it, but when I got back from fishing, as I looked at him, he was looking at me with an intensity that shows that he really is a sannin and also shows he's trying to figure something out (I know people's expressions really well, and I should, with the Byakugan and all). It scares me, because it gives me the feeling he remembers. And he can't remember, because no one remembers…

Flashback:

_It hurts so much._

_I'm running from everything that I used to be. Running from the people that I used to know, especially Sasuke-kun. Well, I was running from his brother, more specifically, Itachi. I can't believe I let this happen to me. I let myself be exploited to help my friend stay alive. I let myself get raped for Sasuke-kun. I can't believe it! I'm so stupid! When I get my hands on Itachi, I'm gonna kill him. Maybe not me, but I'm sure Sasuke would do it. I mean, he cares about me a lot, more than his own family, really. But he shouldn't remember that. No one should. No one can remember that, because it would bring disgrace to the Hyuuga Clan. I need to do something…_

_Then I figured it out. Otou-san taught me that jutsu in case something like this happened! But how am I gonna pull it off for the whole village? I guess if I put enough chakra then it'll work. I have to try. I run to the Uchiha residence and I'm horrified by what I'm seeing. Everyone dead, except for one person. Sasuke-kun was just sitting there, staring off into space and not seeing anything. I go to him and gently speak his name. He looks at me and just kind of stares at me, as if I wasn't even there. "It hurts so much" was his strangled whisper right before he started to cry. I just sit there and hug him until he suddenly grabs the front of my nightdress and says in that same strangled voice, "I don't want to remember this, don't let me remember this!" _

_"I can't do that. I'm sorry."_

"_Yes, you can! I know it! Make me forget! Make me forget everything! I want to forget you!"_

_I start crying as I say, "okay." Then I do it. The secret jutsu only know to the leader of the Hyuuga Clan and the Heir. It's a memory jutsu that has no loopholes and will alter a person's memory completely. It also takes up so much chakra that I could be weak for days, but I would do it for Sasuke. I use this opportunity to alter the memory of everyone in the village, since it would take up the same amount of chakra if I did it right. I change their perception of me, as well as their memory of Itachi and my mother._

_I make them think that my mother died, and that she didn't leave with Itachi a few hours ago. If I didn't do that, then Hyuuga would be a joke. If my father could remember this, he would be proud of me, but unfortunately I have to alter his memory, too. I'm only ten. I can't control my chakra __**that**__ well. Everyone will be affected, except maybe the Hokage. He always seems to know everything that's going on in the village. He would know what was happening and would protect himself in time._

_I don't do any hand signs, which is the danger of this jutsu. There's no warning. It just happens. It has to do with the strength of my will and my chakra against the minds of others, concentrated in this case on Sasuke and is going to spread out. I lock my Byakugan on the memory part of Sasuke's brain and I imagine the memories that he's now going to have. I see his eyes go blank as he forgets everything he wanted to forget, and a few things I wanted to forget, but couldn't. You can't do the jutsu on yourself, you see, unfortunately._

_I run home before Sasuke sees me standing there, and after I climb in the window of my room of the Hyuuga residence, I start to cry, grateful that all I could remember of Itachi's violation of my body are the flowers of the orchard behind him, the orchard of the Hyuuga estate, and his eyes. His sharingan eyes, of course. I'm grateful that I was so numb I didn't feel anything, even though I know it'll still haunt me for the rest of my life._

End Flashback

I try to stop hyperventilating as I think about this. It's been three years, but I still feel like it was yesterday. The day my life went to hell.

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End Chapter Two

**The Story's heating up!!**

**I changed my mind about updating so late, instead I'm just gonna make shorter chapters, with one point of view per chapter. I guess chapter 1 is gonna be the only really long chapter, and now you'll get updates faster. I don't know what to tell you about my updating schedule, 'cause I don't have one. I'll update when I can, that's pretty much it. You might get an update the next day (probably not, though) or in a few weeks, depends on my schedule (and how often I get grounded). We'll see, won't we? Till next time!**

**-I love Teddy Bears (and Naruto!)**


	3. What the Heck is Going on!

**Chapter 3 is here! This one is Naruto's Pov, and I'm slowing down the story in the beginning so that you can understand everything before we get the action going. I have a question, and the answer can be given to me any time until I say you can't anymore. Do you want me to go in detail about the training that they go through or just sort of skim over it, give you the basic Idea, and get to the action right away? Also, I'm not that good at describing hand signs, so I won't be specifically describing the hand signs, only the jutsus.**

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Naruto Pov

Chapter three: What the Heck is Going on!!

We were eating when suddenly Hinata looked at Ero-sennin (who was already looking at her) and she totally like freaked out. She was breathing really fast and all of a sudden she just passed out. I was like, WTF? I reached out and caught her, but not before giving the pervert a glare. "What did you do to her?" I asked, absolutely positive that he caused this. "Nothing," He answered back. Ero-sennin is such a liar! I know he did something, but I'm going to leave it alone until Hinata-chan wakes up.

"Here, give her this," Ero-sennin says, holding out some kind of bottle with what looks like tree sap. "Well, what am I supposed to do with it?" "Put some under her nose," "Wait, WHAT IS THIS?" "Relax, Naruto, it's not poison or anything, it's an herb that will wake her up." "Oh…" I bend over Hinata-chan and I put the horrible-smelling stuff under her nose. Her eyes suddenly flew open and she sat up, hitting me on the head.

"Ow, Hinata-chan!" "Naruto-Kun, I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?" She said with a blush. _Awww, how cute…_ "No, it doesn't hurt that much, besides, the next hokage is much tougher than that!" I said, punching the air. She blushed even more and got to her feet, glancing at Jiraiya once, and then she sat down and started eating her fish silently. Then Ero-sennin went and started eating, too. I wish we had Ramen, but that isn't gonna happen, so I started eating, too. The fish was great!

"Hey, Hinata-chan, did you cook this?" "Y-yes, I did." "It's really good! Who taught you how to make fish like this! I want to learn!"

"My mother…" she said, and I saw how sad she suddenly looked. Did I say something wrong? Was her mother dead? I decided not to ask, since that's probably what happened, anyway. I mean, my parents are dead and all, but I don't remember them, so that's sort of a blessing. If Hinata-chan's mother is dead, then she remembers her, and I feel bad. Then I blurt out the question, even though I wasn't going to.

"Is she dead?" Hinata-chan sort of looks at me, and I realize my mistake. I smack myself in the head, "Never mind." Then she looks away, and I wonder what the heck is going on?

After we finish eating, Ero-sennin made a big deal of clearing his throat and then said in a sort of creepy scary-movie voice, "I think we should start training tomorrow."

"That's great…" I heard Hinata-chan mumble. What is up with her? I know I was a moron, but she's still acting all mopey-like, and it's already been like thirty minutes! I mean, I would've gotten over it already. Oh, well. She'll get over it eventually.

We're starting training tomorrow! I wonder what awesome super-powerful jutsu Ero-sennin will teach me now?

End Chapter 3

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**Chapter Three is done! Finally! I had no idea how to continue after chapter 2, that chapter was so nerve-wracking for me. But I got my game on now so I'll be fine and keep updating.**

_**REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! **_

**For those of you that were confused during chapter two, Hinata was traumatized by all the stuff that happened to her in one night (Her mother leaving, getting raped, and losing her best friend, Sasuke, mentally speaking), so she didn't want anyone to remember what she was like or gossip would spread about Hyuuga the same way it spread for Sasuke after what happened to his entire family. She locked inside herself after that happened, so that is why she is so shy (in my story)**

**So that's pretty much it. **

_**REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!!**_


	4. I'M NOT DEAD?

**Chapter 4! I finally brought this out! This one's going to be a little different because it's not with Jiraiya and the Gang at all (training starts next chapter). Well, Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would be Japanese, at least. I am very much American, just to let you know.**

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Chapter 4:

Haku's Pov

_Location: Unknown_

My eyes opened and I saw light. I have no Idea what happened, and I still don't, but all I saw was light after so much darkness. At first it was only white, but then my eyes began to differentiate between different colors. I saw lots of green, but the most startling was this bright red that seemed to shine in my direction. But that was impossible. I was lying down, wasn't I? Maybe it's blood. After all, I am dead. Wait, I'm DEAD? I wasn't aware of that situation until I thought about it, but suddenly, I knew it was true.

My eyes finally focused after I had been trying for what seemed like hours or days, weeks, even. I saw that I was in a forest, which is the cause for all the green I saw, but there was nothing to account for the red that I saw while I was, well, what was I doing? Coming back to life, is that it? I think about this as I check for signs of life. Yes, my heart is beating, and I feel the need to breathe, and I bleed (I slightly cut myself on one of the tree branches, just to be sure). After I deduced that I was, indeed, _alive_, which I wasn't before, I'm sure of that, I immediately began assessing my surroundings. I was most certainly alone, but that made no sense. I couldn't have revived myself, I mean, I was dead, and I couldn't really do anything. But, at the same time, I'm here, and I'm alone. That means that whoever revived me (and someone did revive me) left.

It seems sort of impossible, doesn't it? The last thing I remember is my master's face as I welcomed the blackness of oblivion, and then, as though in an instant, I'm here. My revival must have taken a long time, I guess. I've been alone for a while, I conclude, because there are no recent disturbances in the immediate area where I woke up. I decide to put that aside for the moment and find my bearings.

What's done is done, and I'm alive, so I need to do things that living people do, such as eat, and drink. I decide to head in a random direction, running with extremely sore muscles. How long has it been? Too long, I guess. I'm not used to thinking for myself; my master has been thinking for me for so long, I guess I almost forgot how to do it. I mean, sure, I analyzed situations and all that nonsense, but I never really had the opportunity to make my own decisions, and the one time that I did, I didn't do so well. I hope this time will be different.

I find a river on my journey, and begin to follow it south, knowing that where a river leads, civilization will soon follow. I head in that direction for a short while, and then I see the fog begin to surround me. That isn't a problem at all, especially for someone like me specializes in water jutsus. On the contrary, it helped me realize where I was. I was most certainly on the edge of the town where I died. The bridge is complete, however. I guess the Land of Waves has really good bridge makers, or whatever.

I never understood why we had to kill the bridge maker, anyway. I didn't care, and even if I did, I wouldn't ask any questions. Tools don't ask their masters why they are being used, do they? Zabuza was my master. I didn't ask him any unnecessary questions. He never cared about me while I was alive, but after I died, maybe he changed his mind. Or maybe he replaced me. When tools get run down, after all, they are replaced… I'm torturing myself thinking about things that have already past and cannot be changed. I need to focus on the present situation.

I focus chakra to the bottoms of my feet, and walked across the water until I reached the edge of the island. I jumped onto the ledge and just looked around. I saw a regular village, going on regular business. This place has definitely improved. It used to be dirty, and all of the people were broke. Now I'm the one with no money. Again.

Wait. I've been so busy focusing on my surroundings that I didn't look at what I have on me. I do that now, looking down at my clothes, and I realize I'm in the same clothes I was in when I died, only these don't have any holes. I have a full weapon pouch, filled with kunai and others, but mostly my favorite, senbon. I also see a sum of money, enough to buy the supplies I need (food, water... the works.). Whoever revived me really wants me to thrive, I guess, or just planned this out properly. I but my provisions and head out of that area, not knowing how much time has passed since I died and making sure no one recognizes me.

I ask a kind man who is just standing around about this time period. Apparently, only a few months have passed since I passed away, and that also means that I can't wait for Zabuza because if he is still alive (and I'm not sure, since I had to protect him all those times) then he most certainly has already moved on. Well, that, and what the old man tells me.

"You seem like a new face around here, young man."

"You could tell?" I asked, unsure to whether I was asking about my being a new face, or the fact he could tell I was a boy. I leave that to his interpretation.

"Sure, anyone who doesn't look at that bridge in awe is a new face."

"Why should I be looking at that bridge with such awe?" I knew half of the story, of course, but I was curious as to see how it would play out.

"Well, this bridge was built by a man named Tazuna. Now, Tazuna-san is about my age, so as you can see he could not defend himself from any dangers, were they to come this way. And those dangers arrived in full force. Many shinobi came to put an end to the building of the bridge, which would rid this town of the dependence on boats it had.

A man named Gato owned almost all the boats, and he didn't want his business ruined, so he hired the ninjas to kill Tazuna, but Tazuna was prepared with shinobi of his own. Three teenagers and a man whose face was covered were his protectors. They risked their lives to defend him from Zabuza, the demon in the snow. In the end, however, Zabuza took his own life while taking down Gato, who also died. That bridge was finished being built after all of that, and was named after one of the teenagers who had protected him, Naruto. So this bridge has quite a legacy, you see." **WHAT??**

"…" I couldn't think. I couldn't even breathe. Zabuza, dead? DEAD? I sacrificed my life to save him, and he dies. It figures. I guess I really am on my own. How am I going to survive? I had been holding on to the hope that he somehow was alive and he would take me in, and I would be the tool I had always been. But it's not going to be like that. I'm on my, own with no one to look after me, and I haven't looked after myself in years. I guess I better start looking out for myself, then. I'll need to do so much. I'm disoriented that I don't realize I've walked away from the man without saying goodbye. I don't bother going back. I have more pressing matters to deal with.

I'll need to be hired, first of all. The easiest way to do that is to join a ninja village, but which one to pick? Definitely not the Mist. I would be killed, as a missing nin to that village. It's protocol. I'd have to join another one. Sand is out, there's not enough water to perform my jutsus. I like Konoha, and people will recognize me and vouch for me. I'm sure Naruto would trust me. That settles it, then. I'm heading to Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves. I wish that Zabuza was still here, but I must keep going. Shinobi are nothing but tools, and Zabuza was a tool who could not live up to his expectations. At least, that's what I want to tell myself.

End Chapter Four

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**I know Haku was only in, like, a few episodes, but I think he was one of the coolest characters to grace the Naruto world, and he deserves another chance. I had to bring him back! Anyway, NEXT chapter brings the training. I think that one will come faster. I just couldn't make up my mind about how to write this chapter. I knew what I wanted to happen, but getting there is a whole other story. Anyway, till next time!**

**iHugBears (and rabbits, and dogs, and Naruto, yay!)**

**BTW: The man who tells Haku about Zabuza being dead is Tazuna, but he doesn't want all the attention. And he thought that Haku looked like, well, Haku, but didn't question that Haku was dead. I mean, HE SAW HIM DIE! I wouldn' beleive it, either. But that's why this is called fiction.**

**REVIEW!!**


	5. I'm Being Promoted to a Sannin! Yay!

**Chapter 5! Training Officially Begins! This is late, but I'm not going to give you an excuse. It kind of annoys me when people do, so I'm just going to say that I'm sorry, and hopefully the next one will come faster. Honestly, though, it probably won't, with school and all.**

**Thank you for the people who reviewed, I'll give you guys virtual cookies!!!! Yay! *Hands out cookies* Now that you are all happily munching on your cookies, here's the chapter!**

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_Jiraiya's POV_

Training starts today. For the pupils, that means their minds are totally captivated by their goal to learn, and they need to be in absolute focus. For the teacher, however, it means that I am insanely bored while a certain blond idiot practices for hours, when the sheer amount of chakra in his system should allow him to learn those same jutsu in minutes, maybe even seconds, if he ever realized it. He's entertaining sometimes, though, I'll give him that.

I know Naruto's skill (and brain) level, but I know nothing about Hinata. I've decided to give her an assessment, just to test her basic skills.

"I know you are familiar with the Jyuken style of taijutsu, Hinata, but I would like to test your skills in other areas of fighting, namely ninjutsu and genjutsu, and if you must use taijutsu, I would appreciate it if you used goken instead of jyuken."

"O-okay."

The shyness has begun to creep up again. She seemed fine on the walk up here, though Naruto is still sleeping. It is still dark, about thirty minutes until dawn, and I wanted to get her alone for this training session. Her infatuation with the blond will alter her fighting abilities, for sure, but for better or worse was the question in my mind. So, like a good scientist, I have set up a control situation. When I train her alone, I can figure out later how she is affected by Naruto's presence. Oh, I'm good.

"Right, we're going to start on the count of three. One-"

And I started running. I have to keep her on her toes at all times. She seemed prepared for this and jumped out of my way, although I did see her widen her eyes for an instant. She flipped over me and I knew what I was going to do. I have resovled, since she's just a genin, to do nothing but taijutsu and see how she's going to react. This tells me her type.

She can: 1. face me head on which would make her a confrontational fighter (which I highly doubt), 2. Attempt to make long distance shots, which would make her a more defensive fighter, 3. Use genjutsu and attempt to confuse me and then attack, which would make her an ambush type, striking when the time is right, or 4. She can completely surprise me and do something completely unpredictable, which I label the "Naruto" type. In her case, I feel a 2 or a 3 would be appropriate, although I'm leaning towards a 2. She seems to always be on the defensive edge in everything she does.

Because of this hunch, it slightly surprises me that she goes for 3 and makes several hand signs before I can no longer see her. At this point she has already exceeded all of my expectations. Most genin attacks can barely touch me, and I was grading her on her performance as if I was another genin, but for her attack to have any effect on me meant that this girl has some powerful genjutsu up her sleeve. I made my hand signs to release myself from this genjutsu, but even after I said "Kai" I still couldn't see her, or even the forest, for that matter. By this point I was wondering what the hell was going on, and I was really wishing that I had paid attention to what hand signs she had used. They seemed to be those of a standard genjutsu, but there was probably some variation that I didn't catch.

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_Hinata's Pov_

I didn't think my genjutsu would actually work, but what's done is done. I didn't realize that my simple trick would work so easily on the man. Maybe he is used to really powerful tricks, much more complicated than the one I pulled, and that's the reason it worked. All I did at first was make my hand signs, and then wait for him to look directly at me before finishing my signs, and then I just ran out of there as fast as I could. I headed into the forest about a quarter of a mile, activated my Byakugan, and waited to see if he fell for it.

"Kai."

I was completely thrown off guard when he did, thinking he was under some genjutsu when he wasn't at all. This is when I actually performed the genjutsu, hoping to confuse him even further. He probably thought by now that he was under an extremely difficult genjutsu that made the illusion worse if he tried to remove it. My father pulled that one on me before, and it was a pain in the butt to remove. If he thinks that, then he'll never get out of my simple genjutsu, because the method for removing such a difficult genjutsu will not work on something so simple. I mean, I used the basic genjutsu, for crying out loud! An academy student already knows this jutsu before they learn _anything_ else. It's the first thing required of them to master.

"Kai."

Crap. I was thinking for too long, and he's figured it out. I'm an idiot. He's a sannin, of course he would figure it out eventually! This is my cue to leave. I head in toward Jiraiya-sensei, silently pulling out several kunai knives and marking my path, lacing chakra into each of the marks. If sensei gets near any of the chakra markers, I will be able to see the change in the chakra, and I will be able to follow his path. It's a very useful trick that Neji-nii-san taught me. I began to spiral in toward him, marking all of the trees surrounding him for a quarter mile. By this point, he still hasn't moved. Or at least, there is a Jiraiya standing in the clearing, but I shouldn't assume that's the real Jiraiya. In fact, I'm pretty sure that he's a clone, which means that the real Jiraiya is either following me, or tracking me down.

Crap… again.

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_Jiraiya's Pov._

She wants to do simple tricks, then I'll give her simple tricks. I admit, the sheer simplicity of it caught me off guard, but I hope that the same will happen to her. I haven't moved since I got rid of her genjutsu, which was true brilliance on her part, hoping that she'll think that I'm a clone or something due to my lack of motion. That can make her extremely nervous, which will force her to come head to head with me. Now that I know her type, I've decided to take her out of her comfort zone, and see how she copes.

It's been almost an hour since we started. The cover of darkness is no longer present, and she'll have to find more places to hide. But dawn also means that Naruto must be waking up. I didn't tell him about going to train Hinata. I really hope he doesn't overreact, but, knowing him, he already did.

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_Naruto's Pov_

The sun… make it go away… I wish my eyes weren't so sensitive, so that I wouldn't wake up at the crack of dawn every morning. Oh, well. I'm awake, so I might as well see what the others are doing. Wait. Didn't we all go to sleep around the fire? Then where are Ero-sennin and Hinata? They can't have gone off-Hinata would probably be too suspicious of Jiraiya's motives to get her alone, and I don't blame her. Hell, if I was a girl I wouldn't even have come on this trip, the "super pervert" would freak me out too much.

Maybe they were taken? Nah- they would've taken me, too. I mean, I'm the most awesomest ninja ever! Why wouldn't they kidnap me? I'm like gold! But then why are they not here? I guess kidnapping is a possibility. Well, if they were kidnapped, then someone needs to rescue them! Yeah! Then I'll be _known_ as the greatest ninja ever, and I'll be promoted straight to sannin for rescuing the pervert, and Hinata will blush, like always, and everything will be awesome! I'm heading out right now!

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**End Chapter**

**A/N: Hinata and Jiraiya are now playing mind games with each other, each trying to confuse the other, while Naruto has just convinced himself that he needs to go rescue his companions. I wonder how that'll play out. No really, I'm wondering, because although I have a general goal in mind with this story, I have no idea how I'm going to get to where I want to go.**

**Haku isn't coming back into this story until at least the battle between Hinata and Jiraiya is over, and that might take another chapter or two, because of Naruto's interruptions in the chapters, and of course, Jiraiya's analytical insight into Hinata's fighting style. Remember, the whole thing is a test. So while he's fighting her, he's taking note of all of her moves . Kind of like when teachers give you a test they fully expect you to fail, just to see what you know and don't know, and what they need to teach you.**

**Anyway, REVIEW! You know you WANT to…**

**-iHugBears**


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